1. Technical Field
Exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a pad conditioning disk, a pre-conditioner unit, and a chemical mechanical polishing apparatus having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In a planarization process using a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) apparatus, the profile of a polishing pad installed in the CMP apparatus may be a significant variable having a significant effect on a flatness characteristic of the surface of a wafer to be abraded. Thus, to actively carry out a wafer planarization process using the CMP apparatus, the profile of the polishing pad should be continuously maintained in a state suitable for the process like an initial state.
However, in a planarization process using the CMP apparatus, the polishing pad may have a slurry or other impurities or may be damaged during the continuous polishing process. The profile of the polishing pad may be deformed into a state different from the initial state, which in turn may cause a reduction in stability of the wafer planarization process.
Accordingly, various kinds of pad conditioner units and pad conditioning methods using the same capable of stablizing the profile of the polishing pad when the wafer planarization process is continuously carried out using the CMP apparatus have been suggested.